4,048 Shares in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD) Purchased by WBI Investments LLC

WBI Investments LLC purchased a new position in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,048 shares of the fast-food giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,173,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in McDonald's by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after purchasing an additional 526,466 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald's by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $4,652,768,000 after buying an additional 157,458 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of McDonald's by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $3,088,037,000 after buying an additional 531,070 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of McDonald's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,725,190,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of McDonald's by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $2,570,511,000 after buying an additional 895,896 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

McDonald's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD traded down $2.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $314.28. 2,639,934 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,556,348. McDonald's Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32. The company has a market cap of $224.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.59, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $301.18.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $345.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $292.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $325.91.

Insider Transactions at McDonald's

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.50, for a total transaction of $299,071.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,100 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,850. The trade was a 7.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,099 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.60, for a total value of $334,755.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $475,176. This represents a 41.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,436 shares of company stock worth $4,458,290 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

McDonald's Company Profile

McDonald's Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.